Dynamism And Colour: British Linocuts Of The 1930s

18 August 2009

Media Release

Dynamism And Colour: British Linocuts Of The 1930s

Te Papa presents a special selection of vivid linocuts from its works on paper collection in the Ilott Room, Level 4 from 20 August. Admission is free.

The sixteen linocuts in Dynamism and Colour: British Linocuts of the 1930s were created by artists associated with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. The artists – Sybil Andrews, William Greengrass, Cyril Power, Kittie Roberts, Ethel Spowers and Lill Tschudi – attended classes taught by W. Claude Flight, whose work is also included. Cyril Power was an architecture lecturer at the School, and Sybil Andrews was the School secretary.

Their works encapsulate the ideas of speed and motion, taking contemporary society as their inspiration – the motor car, the speed trial, the sporting action, the whirl of the merry-go-round, or the stainless gleam of a spiraling staircase. Influenced by Cubism, Futurism and Art Deco, the linocuts parallel developments in art and design in the 1920s and 1930s, with their distinctive modernist feel and jazz-age dynamism.

W. Claude Flight created his first linocut in 1919 and the expressive qualities of the medium caught his imagination. He developed the technique of using multiple blocks and overlaying colours, and he promoted the use of a thin oriental paper that didn’t absorb ink. This ensured that the layers of ink from successive colour blocks would build up on the surface of the paper, ensuring the colours stayed true and vibrant.

The Ilott Room is a small gallery dedicated to the display of Te Papa’s works on paper collection. It is refreshed every six months.

DYNAMISM AND COLOUR: BRITISH LINOCUTS OF THE 1930s

20 August 2009 – February 2010
The Ilott Room, Level 4
Te Papa
Free entry

ENDS

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